check it out: valve cover pics!

[boosted k20]

hey whats up. well today i stripped and painted my valve cover on my LS. i got the idea from user "majinvegeta290". (thanks)

I wanted a gunmetal look on the valve cover, but it ended up looking kinda grey-ish, but i like it. it almost looks like the color of the mugen valve cover for the vtec engines.
if ur wondering, the color is called "cast coat iron" from Dupli-color. it's an engine spray paint. that u can get at autozone.

whatcha think?

front view


side view


cam gear view

[SiGNAL748]

Not bad Very Clean.

[SBallerk2]

LOOKIN' NICE!! I like IT...

[pikkagtr]

nice clean look man, looks really good with the gunmetal look

[pinkfloyddreamer]

looks awesome, you should post how you did it cause mine needs some help, mad props

[integralover]

damn that looks real gooddo you know how he made it so shiney though? i want that look but shiney

[integralover]

and how did you cut the cover for the cam gears?

[boosted k20]

thanks for the positive feedback guys, i appreciate it.

well this is how i did it:

1st go to ur local auto store like autozone and pic up this can of spray that i think is called "Aircraft paint remover" or something like that (i remember that the name of it had to do with something with aircraft) it's usually in the paint section. Pick up the can of paint too while your there. get high temp engine spray paint! also pick up some silcon/gasket maker.

2nd u need to remove the vavle cover. remove the spark plug wires from the engine, and the screw to the top right of the valve cover. i think it's the screw to hold down the steering pump hose. also remove all hoses that are conected to the cover and the oil cap. also, in one of the hose's that connects to the valve cover, (the one in the middle) u will need to remove the plastic nipple that this hose attaches to from the vlave cover. to take it off, just pull on it. once the nipple is off, remove the rubber seal on the valve cover that this nipple was connected too. a screw driver will help out. For the LS motors, there 7 screws that hold the valve cover down. remeber that each screw has a rubber grommet under it. u will need to take them off as well. a flat head screw driver will help in removing them. when all the screws are removed, take a flat putty knife and slip it under the vavle cover, now pry up on it alittle bit until the valve cover moves. do this to the other side as well to make removing the valve cover easy. now remove the rubber gasket on the underside of the valve cover and wipe it down. u will be reusing it. sometimes u might have one or more of the spark plug gasket on the under side of the valve cover when it's removed.remove the spark plug rubber gaskets. (It's a cirlce looking gasket that goes inbetween the valve cover and the spark plug seals on the inside of the engine)

3rd u need to strip the old paint. take the can of paint remover and spray it on the valve evenly. in about 15 sec's u will see the old paint start to crease up and bubble up. it's cool to watch. after leaving it on for about 5 mins, wipe it down with some paper towels. make sure to get in all the little creases of the valve cover. u might need to repeat this step a couple of times to get all the paint off(i had to do it 3 times)
important make sure that this stuff does not get on ur skin. it will burn like hell! i can vouch for that one. i did this with shorts and slippers on. stupid me. trust me it burns!!!! =/

optional step- cutting the valve cover for easy cam gear adjustments:
get a cut off tool (i think thats what u call them. it's a hand tool with a round circulating blade at the end. the blade is made out of metal or some type of fiber material. the blade is specially made to cut through metal with ease) start from one side of the valve cover and start cutting. make sure to cut close to the edge of the cover. u dont want to cut too much into the vlave cover. having a steady hand will be good!

4th after u have stripped all the paint off (and cut the valve cover), rinse off the valve cover with a hose. run the water through the hole that the "nipple" (from the 2nd step) was attached too. make sure that u get all the paint remover off and all the metal shavings if u had just cut the valve cover. now shake the valve cover out to get all the water out. dry it out with some paper towels and leave it out in the sun to dry. i used a blow dryer to speed things up a bit. make sure and get the insde of the valve cover dry.

5th once the cover is dry, u can begin to paint. place two bricks or wooden blocks under the valve cover so that it is susspended in air. (i used the caps that was on the spray paint and the paint remover instead of bricks or wood) this will allow u to paint the cover more easily. keep the can about 8 -12 inches from the cover and start to spray in a back and forth, back and forth motion. (stop getting off on my post! perverts). dont spray tooooo much, just a light even coat
once u have done the whole cover, let it dry for 15 min's. then repeat again and again. i did three coats of paint on my cover.

6th after everything is dry, just button everything back up. NOTE: on the sides of the head u will notice that there are 4 places where there is white silicon (at the ends of the camshafts) take a putty knife or flat head screw driver and remove the silicon. make sure u take a note of where and how much silicon was on the head. after u have removed the old silicon, u will need to apply some new ones. i used regular gasket maker that comes in a tube. i baught it from autozone. put the silicon/gasket onto the head where there was silicon initially. the color of the silicon was red that i used. u can see in my pics above, the pic with the shot of the front view - to the left of the cover, that there was some extra red silicon that squeezed out of the head. i think i put too much.

remember to install the spark plug gasket seals and the gasket for the valve cover, as well as all the rubber grommets.

good luck

[wickedplastikman]

man that looks pretty good. but i wonder how long the paint will last. has anyone else done this before? does it still look nice?

[sameintheend01]

just to let u know, u have to torque those bolts down (dunno how much) and do them in diaganol order.

[Shortbus]

Looks sharp like how the color turned out.

[boosted k20]

Originally Posted by sameintheend01

just to let u know, u have to torque those bolts down (dunno how much) and do them in diaganol order.

yeah, i forgot to mention that. thanks!

[majinvegeta290]

Cool stuff, boosted k20!